CHP: Deputy stops stabbing of two truckers on freeway onramp

An off-duty Fresno County Sheriff’s deputy stopped a knife attack on two truckers Wednesday morning at Highway 99 and Herndon Avenue, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The truckers were rushed to Community Regional Medical Center with multiple wounds, CHP spokesman Mike Salas reported. The attacker, who fled in a big rig, remained at large after fleeing southbound on 99.

The assailant is described as being in his 40s, with short hair. The truck is a 2015 or older white Freightliner with a white trailer. Anyone with information is asked to call the Fresno CHP at 559-262-0400.

The incident took place about 7:30 a.m. near the southbound Herndon onramp. Two truckers had pulled over their big rigs to check their loads when the driver of a third 18-wheeler stopped between the other trucks, Salas said. That driver, described as a shirtless Hispanic man with multiple tattoos on his body and face, pulled out a knife and began stabbing the other men.

That’s when the deputy with the Fresno County Sheriff’s office came upon the scene. The deputy was not identified by sheriff’s office spokesman Tony Botti, who gave this account of what happened next.

“Our court deputy, who was on his way to work dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, was entering the freeway when he got stuck in slow traffic. He noticed three big rigs pulled over on the shoulder and three men fighting. The deputy pulled over, got out, announced to the men he was a deputy and ordered them to stop fighting. Two of the men pointed to the other guy and said he had a knife and he had stabbed them. The deputy pulled out his off-duty gun and pointed it at that man, telling him to show his hands. The assumed suspect put up his hands, but did not have a knife. He then starts to walk away and get into his truck. The deputy kept his gun out to see what the guy was up to. He ultimately drove away. As he was doing so, one of the two victims threw a rock at his window. ...

“During the incident, the deputy had no idea who were the true victims because it was chaotic with a lot of fingerpointing.”

The victims’ wounds were not life-threatening, Botti said.

This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 8:13 AM.